This land is my land, this land is your land...the 4th of July is this weekend and to honor our country, instead of just enjoying this holiday as usual, we decided that we should do something to show our appreciation for the land we live in. We kept it simple today by picking up trash along a trail that we walk often on the way to the park!
We had done this before but having it near the 4th made is seem like it was for a purpose! It was a good lesson for the kids on taking care of the Earth that Jesus created for us and helped to reinforce what we do with our garbage when we're done with it!
My helpers were great and despite the heat, we completed our job with only one "I'm tired" complaint which was followed by, "me too!"
At joy school Friday, Carson came home with a plastic magnifying glass. As soon as Andrew saw it he took Carson outside for what Carson now calls "a mean trick."
Carson was so excited...he carried that magnifying glass EVERYWHERE that day, barely setting it down. Currently, it is in his "special drawer" for safe keeping.
Andrew gave the lesson in EQ at the beginning of the month and in his preparation we reviewed the lesson together and I thought it was a great topic.
He gave it on a talk by President Dieter F. Uchtdorf titled, The Love of God.
I had started this post that day but had abaoned it until I was reading the conferance edition of the Ensign this morning and came to his talk so I decided to finish what I started.
Preparing for this lesson got us thinking, does our life reflect what we truly believe?
A memorable quote by Ghandi was:
My life is my message"...
Andrew started his lesson with some random tombstone inscriptions that we thought were pretty funny.
Here lies a man names Zeke, second fastest draw in Cripple Creel
-Gunfighter, Silver City, Nevada
Here lies the body of Jonathon Blake.
Stepped on the gas instead of the brake.
--Jonathon Blake, Uniontown, Pennyslvania
Everybody love somebody sometime.
-Dean Martin
Here lies the body of our Ana,
gone teh death by a banana
It wasn't the fault of the fruit that laide her low, but the skin of the thing that made her go.
--Anna Hopewell, Enosburg Falls, Vermont.
"That's all folks."
-- Mel Blanc
Food for Thought:
What will we be known for when our time has past?
Below are parts of the talk and lesson that Andrew gave that I especially loved.When we truly understand what it means to love as Jesus Christ loves us, the confusion clears and our priorities align.
Why should we Love God?
...the greatest of all good things is God. Our Father in Heaven has given us, His children, much more than any mortal mind can comprehend...He offers his children the promise of a glorious and infinite existence and has provided a way for us to progress in knowledge until we receive a fullness of joy. He has promised us all that He has. I love that, He has promised us all that He has.
How Can We Increase Our Love of God? We increase our love of our Heavenly Father and demonstrate that love by aligning our thoughts and actions with God's word. His pure love directs and encourages us to become more pure and holy. It inspires us to walk in righteousness-not out of fear or obligation but out of earnest desire to become even more like Him because we love Him. By doing so, we can become "born again...and cleansed by blood, even the blood of the Only Begotten; that we might be sanctified from all sin, and enjoy the words of eternal life in this world, and eternal life in the world to come, even immortal glory.
My dear brothers and sisters, don't get discourage if you stuble at times. Don't feel downcast or despair if you don't feel worthy to be a disciple of Christ at all times.
The first step to walking in righteousness is simply to try.
We must try to believe. Try to learn of God: read the scriptures; study the words of His latter-day prophets; choose to listen to the Father, and do the things He asks of us. Try and keep on trying until that which seems difficult becomes possible—and that which seems only possible becomes habit and a real part of you.
Why Is Love the Great Commandment?
The divine love of God turns ordinary acts into extraordinary service. Divine love is the motive that transports simple words into sacred scripture. Divine love is the factor that transforms reluctant compliance with God’s commandments into blessed dedication and consecration.
Love is the guiding light that illuminates the disciple’s path and fills our daily walk with life, meaning, and wonder.
Love is the measure of our faith, the inspiration for our obedience, and the true altitude of our discipleship.
Love is the way of the disciple.
“For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments.” (1 John 5:2-3)
In this world where people doubt God and rationalize the things that they do I think it is important to remember The Love of God and to always be taking baby steps to perfection because what we love determines what we seek.
What we seek determines what we think and do. And what we think and do determines who we are-and who we will become.
My friend Sheena recently posted a story that we were to "top that." It got me thinking of my past and the following story came to mind...maybe not as terrible as breaking your dogs leg, but funny nonetheless!
I rode the bus to school in 7th and 8th grade which required a short drive from my home to the actual stop. After getting ready I was responsible for waking my "driver" up when it was time to leave. Well this particular morning my step-dad (Mark) was extra tired, I think he might have worked almost all night and it was winter so he asked me to start his car. NO big deal. I had started plenty of cars in my 13 years so keys in hand away I went.
I sat in his car (just like the one pictured above but a light bluish silver), put the key in the ignition and turned it, the car jumped a little but didn't start so I did that a couple more times really not thinking too much of it but I was getting frustrated, when all of a sudden the car lurches forward crashing into the closed garage door! I was shocked and scared but I ran in the house anyway to get some help!
Luckily I wasn't in trouble my mom got up while we were en route to the bus stop she looked out the window and saw the garage door and she was feeling guilty because she knew Mark was super tired and she thought that it was my he who rammed the car into the garage pushing!!
That was a good experience for me because my first car,
besides being a hot pink glory also happened to be a stick. Luckily I have improved my driving since then but it was a joke for quite awhile and will still come up randomly from time to time. Good times.
These pictures have almost nothing to do with the post but this is Carson first thing in the morning, bright and bushy tailed, now if only he wouldn't eat like a bird!
Andrew has gone fishing with his Dad in the big sky state of Montana for a whole week! Before he left I had one request, please set up Carson's big boy bed! Carson is such a great son (almost always) and I think he is ready...or maybe I am just ready for him to be in a big boy bed so we are in transition stage.
When I was getting ready to wash Carson's sheets for the first time prior to making his bed he got so excited when he saw then. He ran over to where I was and pulled the sheets out of my hands and laid them onto the hallway floor. He then proceeded to lay down on them...for awhile...weird but kind of cute! So far so good I thought.
I really want him in his bed before summer is over but it we'll see. You see he is not only getting a new bed but a new room-not my idea but whatever.
The wrought iron bed itself was hand-made by Andrew's Uncle Richard, what talent-I LOVE it!I spy Carson's head...
Anyways, I got the crazy idea that I could have him "bed-trained" during the week Andrew was gone. Fortunatley, we had a trial run before he left on his trip and I stupendously underestimated how much that boy moves in his sleep.
First time in his bed...and little slugger too. Andrew and I were so excited we took a few pictures and just watched him sleep like we did right after he was born and then we realized that we were being total nerds and let him sleep without a flash.
Love the tan lines.
He fell off the bed the first time at 10pm...got him back into bed. 5am rolls around and I hear him crying through the monitor so I sprint-literally into his room. I can hear him, but I can't see him ANYWHERE. Granted it was dark, but still he was nowhere to be found. I checked both sides of the bed and then I realize that he not only had fallen off the bed but had also rolled under it! Let's just say he hasn't slept in his bed since and I have slept better knowing that he is caged in...is that bad?!
Experienced parents out there, any tips for the amatuers?
Mrs. Jones, a first grade teacher, gave her class a homework assignment to draw a picture of the person they most wanted to be like when they grew-up.
(Here's the reply the teacher received the following day)
Dear Mrs. Jones,
I wish to clarify that I am not now, nor have I ever been, an exotic dancer.
I work at Home Depot and I told my daughter how hectic it was last week before the blizzard hit. I told her we sold out every single shovel we had, and then I found one more in the back room, and that several people were fighting over who would get it. Her picture doesn't show me dancing around a pole. It's supposed to depict me selling the last snow shovel we had at Home Depot.
From now on I will remember to check her homework more thoroughly before she turns it in.
Saturday mornings aren't like all the rest. We keep our pj's on longer than usual and instead of rushing out the door, we get to stay at home. This past Saturday started out like most days of the week because we all have to eat. With Andrew still in bed, Carson and I started out the morning by making his favorite, oatmeal with applesauce when he spied with his little eyes- COOKIES!
Now, these particular cookies were not eaten because they were hard as rocks and kind of old, not my best batch. He grabs one of the rocks. Apparently, they were good enough for him. After grabbing one, he looks at me. I look at him back. My face was obviously neither approving or disapproving because he grabbed another cookie--don't you know that you have to have one for each hand?
By the look on his face he was happy to have two cookies but still not sure of he was going to get away with having cookies for breakfast. After thinking about it for a second, my first instinct was to take the cookies away causing a meltdown so early in the morning and make him eat his "regular and quite boring breakfast" or I could make him eat his breakfast and his cookie. Even to me the second option sounded much better, for him and me, so cookies for breakfast is exactly what we did.
Speaking of cookies, I have been trying to work out every day before the sun rises because if I don't do it at the crack of dawn I am a) too busy with everything else and b) it won't happen so sleep gets sacrificed. As a result, I leave my equipment out to save time in the morning. Which until Saturday had been fine because all Carson played with was the ball.
Well, this Saturday morning cookies must have given him super power strength because following breakfast, he decided to try lifting my weights. Well, 5 lbs to a kids that weighs only 21 lbs is pretty heavy. Consequently, the weights tumbled to the floor and cracked the tile...at least they didn't crack his feet. They say you are what you eat and although the cookie was like a rock it didn't give him super power strength. The plan; feed him more spinach before we let him weight train to avoid further household damages....and put the weights away after using them.
I just finished my sixth week, I am 1/3 of the way done with the semester and am learning a ton! This week I was really worried about communicating with my patient because she was a 94 years old woman who was blind in one eye, deaf in one ear and could barely hear out of her "good" ear AND she spoke Spanish. So I get there at 6:00 am and after making sure she hadn't gotten discharged yet, I was practicing my "Spanish phrases." Now I know I am really bad because my friend that I carpool with is from Peru and is fluent in Spanish and she laughed at me when I attempted to repeat phrases after her. I go into the room and did my best to communicate with her by yelling phrases into her "good ear." She would then ramble something off in Spanish that I did not understand. After about a minute of this, she shushed me and told me to "shut up!" I did and left the room to come back a while later to give her a blanket. Once I did this, we were best friends. I would be grouchy too if I were cold.
Through out the day, I learned to communicate through body language and we got along just fine. She had been in the hospital for three days and there was no record of her ever getting a bath and I am pretty sure that no one has helped her brush her teeth because some major build up came out of her mouth when she did. So I washed her hair and gave her a bed bath, during which she kept grabbing my arm and kissing it. She was so appreciative that I was getting her clean. Such a simple thing and she was in heaven!
I must say, this week was much better than the last. Last Friday I had had it! I hadn't gotten much sleep and to make matters worse, I didn't pass the Med. test that I was supposed to get a 90% on so I had to re-take it yesterday...and I passed with a 98%! But failing the first time amidst other things, pretty much set me off. I seriously considered dropping out. After thinking about it and praying I have decided that I need to just finish. As a result, I am feeling a little more comfortable this week and I have decided to do my best instead of trying to be perfect and get an "A," because when school is said and done no one is going to care what grade I got (I hope) they are only going to care about the quality of my work.
